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מזמור לציון | Apostrophe to Zion, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The Apostrophe to Zion is an alphabetical acrostic poem, directed at Zion in the second person. It has been found in multiple locations in Qumran, including the Great Psalms Scroll 11QPsa as well as another fragmentary scroll in 4Q88. It was considered a regular part of their psalmodic canon. . . .
[בחודש אייר בראשון] | [On the 1st of Iyyar] — the first psalm of the “Additional Psalms” from the Cairo Geniza, MS RNL Antonin 798
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
This is the first of four apocryphal psalms from the Cairo Geniza, MS RNL Antonin 798, vocalized and cantillated per Masoretic norms, and translated anew. The origin of these psalms (found in a few pages of an incomplete manuscript) is unclear, with earlier scholars suggesting a medieval pious forgery and more recent scholars suggesting an origin in or contemporaneous with the Qumran community. (In any case, no sign of them has been found in the Qumran scrolls, although some aspects of the Hebrew may suggest a relationship there.) The first psalm found in this partial manuscript is an acrostic psalm. It is incomplete at the beginning, missing the letters alef and bet. It also shows evidence of the Galilean dialect in the confusion between hei and ḥet, a guttural merger also found in Qumran texts and in Samaritan Hebrew. It largely focuses on the covenant with David and his rule. . . .
💬 ילקוט מזמורים לבן סירא פרק נ״א | An Appendix of Psalms of Ben Sira chapter 51, vocalized, cantillated, and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The end of the scroll of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) reconstructed from Cairo Geniza fragments not contained within the Septuagint. . . .
תהלים קי״א | Psalms 111, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Psalms 111, an alphabetic acrostic translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . .
תהלים קמ״ה | Psalms 145 by David, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Psalms 145 in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ | Ashrei Yoshvei Veitekha (Psalms 145), an alphabetical English translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Why is Ashrei such a beloved part of the service? Partially it is because of its alphabetical structure, making it perfect for communal reading. This translation attempts to preserve this in an English equivalence. . . .
תהלים קנ״ה | Psalms 155, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Psalm 155 is an incomplete acrostic (the Dead Sea Scrolls text records it going from ב to נ, and the Syriac can be reconstructed to include up to פ) with similarities to petitionary psalms like Psalm 3, 22, and 143. It is unclear why it was not included in the Masoretic canon, but one can hazard a guess that it was just not familiar to the compilers. . . .
💬 מְגִלַּת אֵיכָה | Megillat Eikhah (Lamentations) in acrostic English translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Yirmiyah ben Ḥilkiyah haKohen, Barukh ben Neriyah, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
An original gender-neutral translation of the book of Lamentations, preserving the alphabetical acrostic through closest parallels to the Hebrew letter. . . .
